Losing Track of all of France’s presidential Candidates? You’re Not Alone

It is official: the contest for France’s far-right vote is getting crowded, as Eric Zemmour announced his candidacy for the upcoming French presidential election on April 18th, 2027. Eric Zemmour, founder and leader of another far-right party in France, Reconquête, is challenging France’s most popular party, Rassemblement National. 

Eric Zemmour’s announcement of joining the presidential election race is only one of the many growing fields of prospective candidates set to present themselves for the elections, with close to seven months left before French citizens head to cast their votes at the polls nationwide. This announcement marks a significant moment in the elections where we see a greater number of contenders presenting themselves, many times from similar political ideologies, leaving voters with a difficult task in choosing their candidates.

France’s presidential system holds a complex historical past of changing and adapting repeatedly over the decades. As of today, France is officially under the Fifth Republic, formed by General de Gaulle and enacted on 4 October 1958. By 1962, de Gaulle changed the voting process by making it universal suffrage. Since this reform, a simple-majority system is still in place with five-year tenures, with the current sitting president, Emmanuel Macron, marking the eighth official presidency under this Fifth Republic.

What marks the upcoming 2027 presidential elections is the end of Macron's two-term presidency with falling rates of approval, leaving an open contest to succeed him from any candidate on the political spectrum. While it may seem like an ordinary presidential election taking place, its significance lies in the polarising politics growing within France in recent years.

In the 2017 presidential elections, Marine Le Pen lost with a staggering 33.90% of the total votes; in 2022, she was also defeated in the second round but with 41.5% of the vote share. Her slow but cautious increase in the polls over the last decade casts an ominous atmosphere for the upcoming elections.

Eric Zemmour, founder and leader of another far-right party in France named Reconquête, is challenging France’s most popular Rassemblement National party, represented by its president Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, while they are still awaiting an official public announcement on who will present the political party for the upcoming elections.

The vast pool of candidates represents a large spectrum from the far left to the far right, including a former president of the French Republic, former prime ministers, and other ministers coming from different previous administrations.

One of these potential candidates is Francois Hollande, former French President from 2012 to 2017, representing the socialist party Parti Socialiste (PS), making it clear he is only here to help combat the growing support for both the extreme left and right.

He declared he would not interfere with the selection process from the social-democrat left during the primary taking place in October, and would wait until December, when he would decide whether the chosen candidate would have a chance at winning, otherwise deciding to step in personally.

Former prime ministers taking part in the presidential election include Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe, both incumbents during Macron’s presidency. Both candidates are vying to represent the political centre, with each already part of the forecasted favorites for the second round along with Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen.

As it stands, Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe are likely to encounter difficulties over who should drop out of the race, with their chances of each making it to the second round diminishing significantly as they both compete with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party gaining traction over the previous months and the Rassemblement National projected to be leading. 

One of the two dropping out of the race is what former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has suggested, by having a primary to designate a candidate spanning from the traditional social-democratic left to the traditional right who can present themselves with strong electoral backing, and ultimately avoid a potential far-left and far-right second round.

Gabriel Attal previously held the role of prime minister from January 9 to September 5, 2024, as the youngest prime minister in French history, aged 34. He was Macron's third prime minister, now presenting himself as a 37-year-old candidate for the upcoming elections.

Attal poses a centrist challenge, running under the Renaissance party, being able to distinguish himself from Macron. This is the same party Macron originally founded in April 2016, called En Marche!, and later rebranded to Renaissance in September 2022 following his re-election earlier in the year. 

Attal’s most recent remark concerned the future of the European Union, declaring his wish to “Construct the United States of Europe”, an old debate which will allow him to challenge the policy of both Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen. 

On the other hand, Edouard Philippe, currently the mayor of Le Havre following the municipal elections in March 2026, runs under the Horizons party, which he founded himself in October 2021 with a more center-right orientation.

Edouard Philippe was the first prime minister under Macron's administration during his first term from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020, a tenure marked by the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ nationwide protests and the first wave of Covid-19. 

While Emmanuel Macron managing to win his second term back in 2022 may give an idea of where the electorate votes with a majority, his term has not gone without turbulence, notably seven total prime ministers appointed in under 10 years. These difficulties reflect the continuous struggles at the executive level to satisfy the electorate and find compromise with the other political parties.

As the number of politicians presenting themselves for the elections continues to rise with months left before the elections, citizens will need to figure out who to vote for in a pool of politically diverse options, while keeping in mind who can realistically end up in the second round.

The question remains: with dozens of candidates, will parties successfully narrow the field themselves before the first round of the elections in April, or will voters be faced with multiple candidates all claiming to represent and speak for the same people?